Month: April 2018

In his first public statements since being banned from video game scoreboard Twin Galaxies, Billy Mitchell promised to provide witnesses and documents that would "show that everything was done professionally, according to the rules" regarding his now-removed Donkey Kong high scores. "We've been at this since 1982, and it's not going to stop now," he promised.

In a short video statement posted by Old School Gamer Magazine, Mitchell addresses the conclusion of Twin Galaxies' recent investigation. That investigation found at least two of Mitchell's claimed Donkey Kong high score performances were achieved using the MAME emulator, contradicting Twin Galaxies' long-standing rules and Mitchell's own statements.

Mitchell starts by acknowledging that there is now "a true, professional due diligence being done to investigate things that happened as far as 35 years ago in a professional manner, not in a shock jock mentality designed to create hits." At the same time, though, he questions the integrity of the "current regime" at Twin Galaxies that "wants to reach back 35 years" to question long-standing scores.

Enlarge / Tesla CEO Elon Musk in 2015. (credit: ODD ANDERSEN/AFP/Getty Images)

Tesla has an Autopilot problem, and it goes far beyond the fallout from last month's deadly crash in Mountain View, California.

Tesla charges $5,000 for Autopilot's lane-keeping and advanced cruise control features. On top of that, customers can pay $3,000 for what Tesla describes as "Full Self-Driving Capability."

"All you will need to do is get in and tell your car where to go," Tesla's ordering page says. "Your Tesla will figure out the optimal route, navigate urban streets (even without lane markings), manage complex intersections with traffic lights, stop signs and roundabouts, and handle densely packed freeways with cars moving at high speed."

(credit: Andrew Cunningham)

Apple's ambitions for Texture, the "Netflix of magazines" app that it acquired last month, are slowly coming into the light. According to a Bloomberg report, Apple plans on integrating the Texture magazine app into Apple News and debuting its own "premium subscription" within the next year. These plans are designed to help Apple boost its services business to meet revenue goals the company has set for itself over the next few years.

Texture gave users the opportunity to subscribe to over 200 magazines for a $9.99 monthly fee. Apple may take the same approach as it's looking to allow users to subscribe to its own premium news subscription service from within an upgraded Apple News app. This approach would set it apart from Apple's previous Newsstand app, which gave users access to magazine subscriptions on an individual basis.

The news of this forthcoming subscription service comes after Apple cut 20 people from the Texture team after the acquisition. Texture previously had about 100 staff members.